Police: Ohio animal owner upset over house arrest

A final police report on the release of dozens of exotic pets including lions and tigers from an eastern Ohio farm shows their suicidal owner had been distraught over the government's plan to confine him on house arrest following a gun conviction.

In records released by the Muskingum County sheriff this week, Terry Thompson's federal probation officer tells a detective about plans for an electronic device to monitor his whereabouts. He says Thompson was overwhelmed by his farm's condition and reported marital problems.

Authorities say Thompson had been home for a few weeks after a year in prison on the conviction when he released the animals in October and killed himself.

Officers killed 48 animals as they spread across the farm and into the community near Zanesville.

The documents were first reported Tuesday by the Zanesville Times Recorder.